I’ve been too busy this week to post on this blog or read many others, but here are some interesting tidbits from the blahblahsphere:

Richard Jennings writes on Huffington Post about the “In Pursuit of Balance” tasting in San Francisco. This is an interesting movement started by Jasmine Hirsch of Hirsch Vineyards and Rajat Parr, wine director for the Michael Mina Restaurant Group, to – well, you guessed it – restore “balance” to California wine. Their group includes producers who are moving away from (if they were ever there in the first place) high-alcohol, low-acid, fruit-forward wines. (Group slogan: Down With Hyphens!) Their April 18 tasting in New York City is already sold out, so they are responding to a thirsty market.

Beam me up, Scotty! I got the Malbec!

Want to make your own Malbec in the Andes foothills? Decanter.com reports that O. Fournier Wine Partners in Mendoza is offering small plots of up to three hectares (about 7.5 acres) of vines to individual owners. A total of 140 ha will be made available. Cost is $150K per ha, but then the winery crews take over all the maintenance of the vineyards and the winemaking. Fournier’s winery looks like a spaceport departures facility, so maybe these investments will really take off.

In the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, the great Dan Berger preaches the local wine gospel to California. Well, okay, not that Californians should drink local, but that good wine is made all around the country. Berger is no recent convert to this message – he’s been championing regional wines for many years. As someone commented to me this week, “The idea that when we travel, we don’t have to drink the same wine as we drink at home is really taking hold.”

It’s definitely a slow week when the Bloggers v. Writers dispute heats up again. This time, Vintank posted a lengthy “nyah nyah” at “traditional” wine writers, urging wineries to focus on bloggers. Steve Heimoff, who like me straddles both media, responded with a lengthy and humorous defense of his work online and in Wine Enthusiast. And judging from his ample use of martial arts vocabulary, this is one tough dude you don’t want to mess with.